Forlot: Return of the Monster Protector - Book Eleven

Chapter Twenty

"Ugh." Margaret lowered her bow and arrow. "Guys, I told you and the others to stay below."

Others?

"We know," one of the ghosts responded. She had brown skin. "But with all the commotion coming from up here, the ten of us reached a verdict, and Edith and I were chosen to investigate...whatever it is that is going on here."

Ten of them?

I was not afraid of the ghost girls. They reminded me of Lean Share and the other ghosts.

"I told you all that she would come," Margaret said. She shoved her bow and arrow back in her bag and pointed an accusing finger at me. "This is the intruder. She is trespassing on our property. Therefore, her life must come to a brutal end."

"I can see with my ghostly eyes..." the other ghost said. Her skin was black. "...that she is trespassing on our hideout."

Margaret slapped her palm against her forehead and clenched her teeth. "Edith! You just revealed to the trespasser that this is where we have been hiding!"

The ghost girl crossed her ghostly arms over her ghostly chest. "Who cares if she knows it or not? She does not seem that much of a threat. Right, Ethel?"

The ghost named Ethel was rubbing her ghostly chin and had her eyes on me, exclaiming me. "Eh. I do not know. I mean...she looks so much like the Monster Protector."

I was confused at first. Why were they comparing me to the Monster Protector? I am the Monster Protector! However, it instantly became clear.

"Ethel, do not compare me to anybody else ever again," Margaret ordered. "Especially our little trespasser."

Really? Little?

"We may look alike..." she continued on. "...but in no way are we related or do the same things. Think of her as my evil doppelgänger."

"Evil?" Edith spoke. "Why did you not say that she was evil in the first place? My sister, the others, and I will gladly get rid of her once and for all."

Before, I was keeping to myself. I wanted to watch and listen to them. I was hoping that I would piece something together. But as soon as Margaret called me evil, I lost it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I said. "That is far from the truth, Margaret, and you know it!"

"Oh my gosh!" Ethel cried. "It talks!"

I stuffed my crossbow and arrow back into my bag and spilled the beans. "Margaret has been lying to you. She is not the Monster Protector. I am."

I thought that the two ghosts would take what I told them seriously. Boy, was I wrong.

They placed their ghostly hands on their stomachs and burst out laughing. They laughed and laughed for what felt like an eternity.

I was surprised that my truth was nothing but a joke to them and clenched my hands into fists.

"Stop laughing!" I exclaimed in a shrill voice. "I am the new Monster Protector. I came here to Forlot because Mr. Hawk needed me. He wanted me to be the next Monster Protector."

Ethel and Edith immediately stop laughing and glared at me. And if looks could kill, theirs would have definitely killed me.

"Do not lie to us," Edith scolded me. "Mr. Hawk did not make you the Monster Protector. He could not have."

"Yeah," Ethel agreed with her sister. "He chose Margaret to be the Monster Protector, and last time that we checked, she still is."

"She was," I corrected her. "Not anymore."

"Do not believe anything that she says, you guys," Margaret lied. "She is a fantastic manipulator."

I glared at her. "You broke my nose!"

"Duh. 'Cause you are evil."

Ethel and Edith clapped their hands.

"Hooray for Margaret!" Ethel cheered. "Good always triumphs over evil."

"I am not evil," I spoke the truth. "I defeated Dr. O'Connor."

Edith and Ethel opened their mouths to speak, but Margaret beat them to it.

"I heard about your little fight with Dr. O'Connor and his wife. As a matter of fact, I read about it. What a lame fight. What was the writer thinking?"

I growled. "Well, sorry," I said sarcastically. "Sorry for being a human being with no magical powers."

"You should be. You are a disgrace towards all fictional characters."

"Lean would disagree with you on that. In fact, go ask her yourself. That is, if you can find her. Go ahead. Ask her point-blank if I helped her get her eyeballs back. I dare you."

The two ghost girls gasped and covered their mouths.

I shifted myself back to them. "What is wrong?"

"Lean Share?" Ethel questioned. "As in...Lean Share?"

"Uh, yes. I met her when I first arrived to this town."

"And you said that you assisted her in retrieving her eyes?" Edith also questioned.

"Yep. And might I add that it was a success. She is no longer blind. Well, her eyesight is no longer blurry."

Ethel uncovered her mouth. "How did you help? She hardly wants assistance from anybody, including the people whom she lives with."

"Lived with," I corrected her once again.

"What?!" Edith shouted. "She is dead?! Like...gone forever?!"

"No, no, no. She is perfectly fine." I rubbed my arms. "Hehe. I thought that I accidentally killed her, but turns out that she faked her death in order to do...whatever." I shrugged. "I do not know what she is up to."

"So let us recap," Ethel suggested.

Edith counted on her ghostly fingers. "Lean Share is alive. Well, as alive as a ghost can get. She has her eyes back. And she lives at the mansion no more."

I nodded. "That is all true."

I felt a tug on my red shirt and looked down. There was a boy. He was also a ghost and had blue skin.

"Oh. Hello," I greeted to him.

"What were you saying about my mommy?" he asked.

"Uh, your mommy?"

"Yes. My mommy's full name is Lean Share."